Monthly Archives: January 2013

Taiwan – There are Lighthouses There!

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New Maritime and Port Bureau starts operations

By Shelley Shan – Staff reporter – Taipei Times – January 02, 2013

People watch the sunrise at the Sandiaojiao lighthouse on the border of New Taipei City and Yilan County yesterday, as the Maritime and Port Bureau took over management of all of the nation’s lighthouses and navigation facilities from the Customs Administration.Jan 02, 2013 FULL STORY Photo: CNA

The Maritime and Port Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday officially replaced the Customs Administration to become the agency in charge of all of the nation’s lighthouses and navigation aids.

To mark the transition of management, the two agencies yesterday jointly unveiled a new lighthouse plaque at the solar energy-powered Keelung lighthouse.

Located in Keelung Port, the 11m-tall brick lighthouse was built in 1900 and the lighting system has a nominal optical distance of 16 nautical miles (29.6km). The nation has a total of 34 lighthouses, 44 light posts and 14 radar beacons, including those in Taiwan proper as well as in the outlying islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Continue reading Taiwan – There are Lighthouses There! →

Lighthouse History – 53 (1929-05-01 – 1929-05-01)

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The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: ”Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.

Please Note: December 20, 2012 – I am continuing this series with Lighthouse History #51 because the newspapers have now been indexed up to 1932. I quit posting at #50 as the extracts only went to 1926. They have now been extended from 1927 to 1932 so I will sift through the data for anything lighhouse!

 photo of Captain Gillam, appointed skipper of Princess Norah. May 4, 1 – Captain Edward Gillam, 65, dies suddenly onboard Norah, while nearing Tofino May 3. Coming to Victoria from St George’s Bay, NF [born Dec, 1863] in 1903, he joined the old Queen City as quarterdeck man under Captain Townsend, another west coast veteran. Through successive stages, aided by a deep love for the sea and accumulated knowledge, he rose to Captain. 
When Queen City left the west coast route he transferred to the BC Coast SS Service’s Tees as commander. Later he took over command of Princess Maquinna, which was built here by the BC Marine Railway Company in 1913, constructed and equipped to meet the roughest of weather on the coast. 
From Maquinna he transferred to Princess Mary, and from that ship to the new Princess Norah on Apr 1. It was he who safely conveyed Lord and Lady Willingdon aboard the vessel on her inaugural cruise Apr 8 and 11. 
The coastal run, by its isolation from civilization, calling for prompt action in time of peril, quick decision in case of rescue of shipwrecked mariners and capacity to deal with the mixed elements of a frontier community, gave to Gillam an opportunity which has come to no other master of the BC Coast SS Service in this generation. How well he rose to the occasion is known to every resident of the Island.  Continue reading Lighthouse History – 53 (1929-05-01 – 1929-05-01) →

A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers

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We all know what collective nouns are do we not? OK, I had completely forgotten the English language term until I saw the title above.

Collective nouns are the names given to collections or groups, be they beasts, birds, people or things. It is a naturally occurring phenomenon in many languages of the world e.g. English, German, Swedish, etc.

We have all heard of a a pack of coyotes, a flock of birds, a troop of Boy Scouts, and a fleet of cars. 

The use of collective nouns started back in the 14th and 15th centuries to designate collections of wildlife in hunting terminology (Wikipedia) but where did the term a plague of lighthouse keepers come from?

According again to Wikipedia, “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” is a track from the British band Van der Graaf Generator’s fourth album Pawn Hearts (1971). It is notable for being a concept piece over 23 minutes long, which comprises the whole B-side of the album.

Now this collective noun has never been used before as far as I can find out, and will probably now become embedded into the English language as another collective noun. Although sounding deadly as in infectious, the term in this case, as explained by the composer means a gathering as in “a pride of lions, a murder of crows, so a plague of lighthouse-keepers“.

This term will not in general be used very often as a plague of lighthouse keepers is a very rare commodity, as mentioned in my article Our First Union Meeting-Nov. 13, 1994. Because of their isolation, lighthouse keepers do not get together very often in a group or gathering.

For those of you interested in hearing the musical piece, it is available on Youtube.

[media url=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/gDVpGqjOLlE” width=”400″ height=”350″]

Also, the lyrics and other information is available in a Google Search.

OK, that is solved. Now what are we going to call a group of lighthouses? Any suggestions? Again this is a very rare occurrence except at a river mouth, harbour opening, etc. Maybe a confluence of lighthouses? or? Any suggestions?